1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust device in a motorcycle including an article storage pannier at a side portion of a rear portion of a motorcycle body.
2. Description of Related Art
A motorcycle has been known in which a muffler, which is a part of an exhaust device, is disposed at a lateral side of a rear wheel, and a pannier or storage box, which is an optional part, is mounted to a side portion of a rear portion of a motorcycle body. In such a motorcycle, if the mounting position of the pannier is lowered in accordance with a change in the design of the motorcycle, exhaust gas from the muffler may hit the pannier. If the position of the muffler is lowered, this affects the structure of an exhaust pipe at the upstream side of the muffler, and thus it is necessary to significantly change the design of the exhaust device, which requires a heavy design work.
In order to prevent exhaust gas from a muffler from hitting a pannier, an exhaust device has been suggested in which a muffler and an exhaust pipe extending from an engine are connected to each other by a joint having a bent portion, and in mounting a pannier, a mounting angle of the muffler toward the rear side can be changed by rotating the joint at a joined portion between the joint and the exhaust pipe (see Patent Document 1). An exhaust device has also been known in which an outlet pipe through which exhaust gas from a muffler is discharged is directed downward (see Patent Document 2). However, with the motorcycle including the exhaust device disclosed in Patent Document 2, no space for mounting a large-size pannier is present above the muffler. That is, there is no contemplation to equip this motorcycle with a pannier.